Caught in the Rain
by XKiraraX
Summary: Edward comes to Roy's doorstep one night, but he's completely changed. [Roy[x]Ed] Rating will probably go up.
1. Chapter 1

Caught in the Rain

This is an idea from a roleplay I was doing with someone.

The wind and rain surrounded him as he slowly made his way to the nice house his superior officer owned. He had seen it once and now he needed it as a form of cover.

He had been scheduled to return with his younger brother Alphonse a week prior, but Edward Elric had never returned with the empty suit of armor. Not this time at least. Ed had been sent away to track down some insane alchemist and had gotten caught somehow. Just recently having woken due to an incident and

He had immediately taken off back to Central in hopes that he would find help by his last resort.

White ears contrasted greatly with his now red-orange hair that framed his face, said ears twitching along with his tail as it was attacked with the rain.

A whimper came from his throat as he looked up, examining the door before him. Raising a shaky and pale clawed hand, Edward quickly knocked. His arm retreated to fold with the other over his chest in a desperate attempt to keep warm in the storm as he waited on Roy Mustang to be his so called savior yet again.

Roy sighed and rolled over in his bed. He didn't know why, but he just

could not fall asleep. Maybe it was the noise of the wind and rain that kept him awake, listening to the quiet beating on the roof.

After shifting his body around for what seemed like the millionth time, he heard a noise coming from the front door. He strained his ears a bit,

realizing that the noise he heard had not been the soft raindrops and

gushing wind he had listened to for the entire night. Sighing, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He walked sluggishly towards the door and opened it, only to be greeted by a shocking, yet familiar face.

Bright, gold eyes looked up into Roy's own dark ones in a pleading fashion.

"Uh...I'm sorry to bother you...But could I maybe crash here?" He asked meekly, being uncharacteristically polite to the older man.

But it was understandable as well. He was trying to get a place to stay and being polite was the easiest way to achieve such a thing, especially at a desperate time like this.

"I understand if it's not alright, but I can't really be out like this." Ed added quickly, pointing out the ears, tail, and markings on his face. Well, he /did/ look odd without his coat or over shirt.

"Uh...s-sure..." Roy stammered. 'Um...' he thought to himself, 'maybe I did fall asleep after all...' he turned away from Edward, walking in the house and beckoning him to do the same.

Roy was silent for a while until he couldn't take it anymore.

"All right Fullmetal, What the hell did you get mixed up with this time?" He asked, scanning his eyes over Edwards obviously changed body. His eyes met Edwards as he silently pleaded the boy to tell him everything.

Edward silently stepped in, shutting the door behind him as he stood in front of it, shivering as the water slowly and steadily dripped down to the floor below him.

"Well/colonel/, I went on a mission for you. I had an accident with him and an array. He sacrificed himself, so now I'm stuck like this looking for a cure." He said, stammering here and there as his teeth chattered.

The Fullmetal Alchemist unconsciously whimpered, plopping down on the puddle of water he had accidentally created with his wet clothes and hair, which in turn soaked his skin.

"I could leave if this is a problem..." He added, watching the wall.

How embarrassing. Having to crawl to the worst bastard with an ego complex.

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I may continue to post this, until we maybe decide to write a revised version on here especially for fanficnet . . R & R, please?


	2. Chapter 2

"No." Roy said shortly. "You're staying. You'll get sick if you wander outside in this weather." He walked out of the room and then returned a few minutes later with a few towels.

"Here," he said, throwing them onto Edward. Roy sat down on the couch.

Edward took to drying the floor before he started on himself.

"You can sit on the couch if you want to, you know, you don't have to sit on the floor."

He was quiet for a while. They sat uncomfortably together in a room of silence.

"I don't want to get the furniture wet," He said shortly.

"Do you..." Roy started hesitantly, "know how to fix this...?"

"Do I _look_ like I'd be able to go into a library without being shipped off to some lab where they'd dissect me?" Edward snapped irritably.

"Sorry about this though..." He added, sitting on the wet towels he'd used on the floor as he continued with his ears and tail.

Fur liked to soak up a lot of water. "Um...I don't have any clothes." Ed pointed out nervously.

Well, this made things more awkward than before. How...sad. Edward reached an all time low for his bad luck.

Roy yanked Edwards arm and shoved him onto the couch. "Sit." He ordered. I don't care about the furniture. You're not sitting on the floor. And do you want some clothes or not? I doubt they'd fit you, seeing as you're so sma-" He cut himself off and shook his head. It wasn't the time for short jokes.

He stood, awaiting Edwards answer. "Do you want clothes or not?"

Edward glared at the older alchemist before sighing. All right. Roy was at least trying to be a good host for him at the moment, shock put off to the side for the moment.

"That'd be nice actually. Don't worry though; it'll be like I'm not even here!" The blonde stated cheerfully, offering a fangy smile.

A silent warning that he had his own weapon if he'd need to use it.

Fangs and claws.

Yup, that pretty much worked for Ed.

Roy smiled sheepishly and started to walk out of the room. "I'll be back in a minute," he promised, and went off in search for clothes that would fit the boy.

He walked in his room and sighed. It was a mess. Clothes -dirty and clean- were everywhere, books everywhere.

"Maybe I should think about cleaning someday..." he muttered. Roy

walked over to his closet and started digging through clothes. He pulled out a plain white shirt that was kind of small on him and shorts that were kind of like gym shorts.

He sighed knowing that they would have to do. He walked back to the living room and threw the clothes at Edward.

"Sorry," he told the younger boy, "it was the best I could

do."

Edward calmly examined the clothes before cringing. He had a tail that

he'd ruined his pants for by cutting a hole in them.

"One, where's the bathroom so that I can change. Two, can I cut a hole in these for my...Uh...Tail...?" He inquired, holding up the shorts as the lovely tail whacked him in the face.

The thing was so...Fluffy. What was worse was that it was like that naturally for some reason. He didn't even know what he was! The young teenager sighed, shaking his head as his red hair fell into his face.

He didn't want to know what that creep had done to him while he'd been knocked out seeing his braid undone along with him missing two articles of clothing.

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I'll update later

-Kirara


	3. Chapter 3

"The bathroom is right over there," he said, pointing to a nearby door. He could barely hold back his laughs. Ah, if only he had a camera. That tail was too funny, no matter the situation Edward was in. It was fluffy!

"Oh, and yes, you may cut a hole in the shorts."

'What happened to his clothes, anyway...?' Roy wondered after a second. It took him a second to think of a logical explanation, other than the one that kept popping in his perverted mind.

'Oh, maybe they ripped when he changed...' Ed nodded, disappearing to change. A few curses came from the bathroom before Ed emerged with a dark look about him.

"When I find out what the HELL I AM I'm killing every SINGLE ONE of them!" He snapped in a pouting fashion, holding his twitching tail with a look of pure hatred as he half curled up and half sat in the corner of the couch. The thing kept moving according to his emotions and or thoughts.

And it sucked terribly.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he let the tail go reluctantly. He figured he'd be sleeping on the couch so he'd might as well be comfortable.

"Any other questions you want answered since I doubt either of us will sleep?" Roy snickered and then was silent. He kept glancing over to look at Edward's tail. His hand was twitching. Edward's tail looked so soft and cuddly. He just wanted to reach over and pet it.

"Why is your tail twitching so much?" He asked Edward, trying desperately to distract himself.

"Well...It moves according to my emotions apparently. A mixture of nervousness, tenseness, and irritation caused it. It's strange in my opinion." He stated, relaxing as the tail curled around him comfortably. "Now I'm relaxed." Edward pointed out, nodding once at the unwanted appendage in a matter of fact way.

That had to explain it all to Roy, right? Or at least that part anyway.

"Anything else you want to know, Colonel?" Ed questioned while tilting his head to the side cutely, his ears twitching this time in his curiosity.

Roy blushed faintly and looked away, averting the adorable face gazing at him. 'Why does he look so damn cute?' he wondered, then banged his head against the couch quietly in attempt to punish himself.

'No, NO Roy.' he told himself. "You can't think that." he scolded, accidentally aloud, but quietly. White ears perked up as Edward sat up more to stare at the older man with a raised eyebrow.

"Can't think what?" He asked calmly, curiosity getting the better of him. Maybe he was a type of cat...No. He didn't look too much like one and the tail was too recitve for that anyway.

The Fullmetal Alchemist just stared, waiting for his answer to come out of the older man now. It was weird, seeing a less bastardish and less professional version of his superior. But it was still the same person Ed had to deal with on multiple occasions.

"I didn't say anything!" Roy said quickly, but calmly. 'Shit, I did say that aloud.' he thought to himself. "I didn't say anything." He stood up really fast. "Do you want to sleep in here or in my bed?" He asked. "I'll sleep on the couch if you want the bed."

Roy felt strange asking this for some reason.

"Like I said earlier, you'll barely notice I'm here! So I'll take the couch so that you can have the bed." Edward said with a curt nod, curling back up and shutting his eyes.

He'd only sleep for about an hour or two though. So what could he do to fill up his time? Well, he could clean. And he knew Roy still worked unless he were to call in sick, so Ed would simply make him breakfast in the morning. Yah. That'd work.

Despite popular belief, he truly was a good cook since Al couldn't do it well in the body he currently had and nobody else did it for him. Which left Ed with no other choice but to learn.

Roy nodded. "Alright. I'm gonna go to bed now. You try to sleep some too, alright?" With that, he ran out of the room before he felt another urge to do something utterly weird to that adorable creature in his living room.

Roy flopped onto his bed and sighed. He had 2 hours before he had to go to work in the morning. He might as well just call in sick. Roy cringed and picked up the phone.

''I guess I've lived a full life..." Roy whimpered silently. He dialed a number.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Came a loud, yet tired voice into the phone.

"Um...Yeah, Hawkeye I'm just calling to tell you that I'm sick and won't be in work tomorrow. Sorry for calling so early… Um…Bye. "

Roy hung up the phone and closed his eyes, trying to keep his mind from wandering. R&R please.

I'll try and update soon. -Kirara


	4. Chapter 4

A/N For all the people asking what animal Edward is, it will come out later in the story, but I guess I'll tell you all XD He's a red panda. (Go look them up on google. They're so cute:D)

An hour passed before Edward got up, wandering around in search of what He needed to clean. He cleaned for about two hours before pausing, the kitchen, living room, and bathroom now perfectly spotless.

Ed slipped into the kitchen, getting what he needed to make batter for the pancakes before he could start them. Just plain pancakes since he didn't quite know if Roy was allergic to anything yet. Soon the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon drifted from the kitchen, making a homier aroma within the other man's home. The chimera hummed lightly, some tune he'd heard once upon a time from his mother as he cooked, careful not to make too much of a mess in the newly cleaned room and being extra careful not to burn anything he was making.

Roy woke up a while later, aware of the wonderful smell that filled his home. He sat up and got out of bed, then staggered towards the kitchen. Colonel Mustang was definitely not a morning person.

"Morning, Fullmetal. I didn't know that you knew how to boil water, let alone cook." Roy mocked. "It actually smells good, really."

Edward blinked slowly, his tail twitching and his ears lowering themselves slightly at the insult to his skills.

"Well, I'd say something but I don't see any need to. What a wonderful way to thank the person who got an hour of sleep and spent the rest of the time cleaning your house. Coffee's in the pot freshly made and here's your breakfast." Ed stated coolly, placing the full plate on the counter for Roy before he started doing his own breakfast now.

Well. There was the bastard he'd missed the night before, which meant he'd more than likely woken the other up by accident. Oh well, not his fault he had been sent on such a stupid mission in the first place.

"Sorry, sorry." he chuckled, grabbing the plate. "Let me rephrase that- 'Oh, THANK you Edward-sama for this wonderful meal that you have graced the presence of my mouth with." Roy said as he took a bite, watching Edwards tail. He pointed.

"You're tail's twitching again, Edward."

Edward smiled innocently and cocked his head to the side. "Hmm...It is. Guess I really did miss when trying to cut it off. Sad." He mock pouted, taking the scraps and leftovers from the breakfast he'd made Roy in order to create his own.

The teen leaned against the counter, quite content with eating only that for the moment. He'd said he wouldn't be of any notice for the colonel and he meant it, even if that meant toning his consumption rate down so that he took up less stuff.

But Edward couldn't be blamed. He just didn't want to get himself thrown out.

"Why would you want to cut it off?" Roy asked him while stuffing his face full of food. "It's actually kind of cute on you. It suits you." He mocked. "And why are you eating so little? Has being part animal

taken away your large appetite?"

Ed cringed before raising an eyebrow. "Cute huh? Never expected that one from you and no. It didn't take away my appetite, but it's your food and I told you I wouldn't be noticed. That includes taking your food for myself and getting in your way. Sorry if that bothers you." He muttered, nibbling at the food in order to psychologically fool himself into thinking that he had more than what was really on the red head's plate.

It was strange, having to explain things like this to Roy. Edward sighed lightly, shaking his head to clear in, brushing away his bang coolly.

Roy sighed. "You're not a bother and I'm a Colonel, remember? That means I have money. It's not a problem. And you're definitely NOT in my way. You can stay as long as you want, seeing as it's partially my fault you got stuck like that in the first place..."" He pushed his unfinished plate over to Edward. "Eat whatever you want. Really."

Edward shook his head, frowning slightly at the flame alchemist. "Really, I'm fine. I'm use to having to tone it down with my eating on occasions when certain things happen." He explained.

Translation, Ed couldn't save money for the life of him and would rather spend in on buying books about bio-alchemy. He smiled lightly, starting to clean his empty plate.

"Eat. I made it for you so that you could have breakfast. I take it that you don't have to work today then?" He asked curiously, ears twitching this time.

"No, I took the day off of work." Roy replied quickly, watching Edward's ears twitch. He was fascinated by them. He watched Edward for a minute, then stabbed a fork in a piece of food and quickly shoved it in Edward's mouth.

"Eat." He commanded. He didn't want to let the boy not eat.

Edward pulled back quickly with a glare, chewing as fast as he could before swallowing.

"Hey! I told you no, Colonel! I ate my own breakfast obviously, so don't try and make me eat more!" He snapped, ears bending back much like a foxes would as his tail twisted around him protectively. The blond huffed, turning back to his cleaning with a frown.

Roy mockingly slunk back like a pathetic animal, with a fake hurt look on his face.

"Stupid midget." he muttered, just loud enough for Edward to hear. "Just trying to help." He turned away and folded his arms across his chest.

"Would you stop calling me short just because I fucking /shrunk/ three inches!!!" Edward shouted, eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and pain. He was still upset about that.

His eyes grew distant as a small whimper escaped from the confines of his throat at the forced back memory that came ebbing back to the surface.

A/N the ( ) are memories.

(Edward flinched back, not fully registering through his pain from the transmutation as a pale hand reached out to pet him. "You know...You shouldn't pull back from your master. It's not very nice." The cool voice stated, as green eyes shined. The man reached again, this time grabbing hold of a black leather collar and tugging the blonde/cat. Looking with a frown, the alchemist shook his head while examining the boy through the bars of the cage.

"Hmm...Not a cat. That doesn't seem to work for me. Maybe a dog next time." He muttered, releasing Ed. The only sounds left within the dark room were of Ed whimpering and the door shutting with a loud echoing sound.) The teen whimpered again, this time shaking his head desperately.

Roy rushed over to Edward when he started shaking. "Edward!" He yelled loudly, trying to snap the young alchemist back to his senses.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked, shaking the boys shoulders. He took Edwards chin between his thumb and index finger to try and stop him from shaking his head. "Are you ok?"

Golden eyes wide and fearful stared up at the colonel as tears threatened to overflow from the amber orbs.

"Please...I don't want to remember anymore." He whispered, pulling away from Roy and folding his arms in a way to hold himself tightly.

He didn't want to remember, he didn't want to be hurt. The memories hurt him.

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Lotsa reviews make me update faster!

-Kirara


	5. Chapter 5

Roy stared back at Edward with a concerned look in his eyes.

"Edward?" He asked again, stepping closer to the boy. "What's wrong with you?" He stepped even closer, putting his hands on Edward's arms, trying gently to pry them away from himself.

"I don't want to remember what happened to me..." He muttered, tightening his grip as he quickly pulled away.

The chimera sat on the floor with his knees to his chest, resting his forehead on his knees as well. He wanted to be alone. He didn't want to be touched. Ed's hair gently followed his movements, showing a small glimpse of the cut/gash that had been made from the collar when he'd been so forcefully pulled in that cage.

Roy sighed softly and looked away.

'_What did that bastard do to him? It must have been horrible...'_ a look of fury flashed across his face as he thought of what could have happened. He stood up and walked out of the room, then returned a minute later with some medicine for Edward.

"Here," Roy said softly, holding it out. "For the cut on your neck."

Ed looked back up, eyes full of confusion from what he'd heard.

"I have a cut on my neck?" He asked curiously. He knew he had welts decorating his back and chest from what looked like a whip, but he knew nothing about any wounds on his neck of all things! "Uh..._Where_ on my neck?" He asked, rubbing at the skin just below the injury in question as a way to find it.

Right...here." He pointed out, gently brushing Edwards neck, indicating where the gash was. "You didn't notice it? It looks really painful. What happened?" He looked at Edward, his dark eyes full of concern.

Edward cringed at the question, chewing nervously on his bottom lip. Well, it was now or never apparently.

"Uh…the same thing that happened to my chest and back?" He replied, it sounding more like a question rather than a statement. But it wasn't his fault that he was simply feeling nervous all of a sudden. His tail puffed up slightly, wrapping around the chimera's lithe body

"Don't lie to me, Edward." Roy glared at him. "That cut looks different from the ones that were on your back. What did that bastard do to you?" He lifted Edward's hair and examined the back of his neck, looking for more gashes.

"I was wearing a collar okay!" He snapped, pulling away slightly with growl. He wasn't in the mood to explain any cuts on his neck from the amount of times he'd been tugged on. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine." Edward stated calmly, shaking his head as he glared. He was so stubborn...

"...I'm sorry, Edward. If you hadn't been on that mission for me, then you wouldn't have..." He was silent for a minute. "It's my fault." He said, mostly to himself. Roy turned to look out the window.

Ears perked up slightly at that. Oh the irony. He'd waited so long to hear those few precious words, and now that he had he couldn't fully enjoy them. How ironic was that situation?

"It's not your fault...It's my own for letting my guard down..." He replied. "What confuses me is that when I let my guard down, Alphonse usually looks over me..." He added with a frown.

Roy sighed softly and closed his eyes. 'Edward didn't deserve whatever that bastard did to him.' he thought to himself. 'I swear he'll pay.'

"S-speaking of Alphonse," Roy said, trying to change the subject, "Where is he?"

Ed cringed, bangs shadowing his eyes as he shook his head silently

"He's...Disappeared. I haven't seen him since I was hit and knocked out. And if I did, I wouldn't know since they kept me so drugged up." He explained, showing the spot on his arm where the needle had been put in. It had been painful at first. Edward sighed, standing up and stretching. "I don't know what they did to him..."

"Aren't you worried about him?" Roy asked him, looking back at Edward for the first time in a while. "He's your brother! What if they did something bad to him? Someone needs to go out and look for him."

"I...Can't. I don't want to know the truth! I don't want to know what happened to him because...I'm responsible for whatever had happened to my brother." He mumbled, shaking his head again.

He wanted to tune things out again. He wanted his memories to stay locked away. Not having to be dealt with. Edward sighed, eyes shining slightly as he looked at the colonel.

Roy took a step closer to Edward, and then hesitated. "Ed, you know that Alphonse won't blame you. You two are all each other have and you need him. And how would it be your fault? I'm the one who sent you on the damn mission!"

"Because I didn't listen to him when he warned me that the alchemist would want to use me as a test subject. I didn't listen to him and it caused trouble." Ed replied, not knowing how odd it was that his younger sibling had known exactly what the rouge alchemist had planned for him.

"Al _warned_ me that I would get into trouble with the person we were hunting if I didn't back off of the case and I got us both hurt!" He exclaimed with a distant, hurt expression. How strange that must have sounded.

"Don't blame yourself. You know Alphonse wouldn't blame you. So stop thinking like that." He sat down heavily on the couch and leaned back.

Roy looked out the window, realizing it was now mid afternoon. "What are you going to do about Alphonse?" Roy asked. "Just leave him wherever he is?"

"Nope! I'm going to wait for one of those scientists to come back to

Central looking for me and then I'm going to let them take me back with them! Hopefully I'll be able to find Al then. Otherwise I'll just be in a little pain...Or maybe more. Maybe they'll cross me with a mouse next time." He said with a small shrug and a smile. He didn't mind sacrificing himself for his younger sibling.

"You can't let them take you back! Just look what they did to you the first time. What makes you think they won't hurt you even more? Or what if they kill you?" Roy said loudly, jumping off the couch to face Edward. "What if you _don't_ come back!**"**

"Why would they kill me in fear of getting killed? I am the /favorite/ after all. Happens when somebody else thinks you're a /pretty/ teenager. I'm use to it by now though. And I might not come back. That's fine as long as I can find Alphonse." Edward pointed out with a soft smile before he sat down on the floor with a light sigh.

He had a weird craving for bamboo...

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Reviews make me update faster!

-Kirara


	6. Chapter 6

"Just...please don't die." Roy said quietly, which was really out of character for him, though it wasn't a secret that he cared about Edward and Alphonse, just like other people. He sat back slowly on the couch and looked away. He struggled to keep his eyes open, for the skipping of his last night's sleep was taking its toll on him.

"I won't die...Roy..." He said in a sing-song fashion, eyes large an begging. "I'm hungry...But I want bamboo!" He said, giving the whole puppy dog pout. Bottom lip stuck out and everything.

They did sell the stuff for projects, decorations, and things like that, but not usually to eat. But it wasn't something the chimera could really help either. It was just an unusual craving.

"What the hell? I don't think that bamboo is edible, Edward..." He said, chuckling quietly. "Do they even sell it around here? Even if they did, I don't think it's for eating...but do you want me to go look around for some?" He felt seriously weird saying this.

"Bamboo leaves are edible though. That's what I want and they sell it somewhere." He stated with a curt nod and bright smile. "I think they sell it at one of those decorative plant stores because Riza bought that one for your office!" Edward added brightly, quite content with being able to get a plant to eat.

Hopefully the craving wouldn't last all that long since Bamboo could get rather expensive to keep buying over and over again.

"Oh you mean the leaves! I brought that plant home a while back. Its in my room somewhere..." Roy laughed uneasily. "Not that I could find it in that room of mine. You're part animal. Go fetch. Sniff it out or something. You can have it if you find it, just don't tell Hawkeye." He added.

Ed's eye twitched at the mention of being an animal before he leaned over and nipped Roy's ear. Smiling at the wonderful use of fangs, Edward took off to find the treat. Within the course of forty five seconds, the teenager had located the plant he'd been caving, laying down on his back upon Roy's bed with his legs curled up to his chest as he chewed a piece of the plant to retrieve the leaves. A soft hum left the former blonde's throat as he happily munched the crunchy leaves.

Roy almost gasped at the shock of Edward biting his ear, but stayed silent and bit his tongue, trying to keep the blush from rising to his cheeks. After regaining his composure, he followed Edward to his room. After Edward retrieved the plant, Roy watched the chimera boy eat with the weirdest expression on his face.

"Edward, that's just strange." Roy pointed out.

"No it's not! It's absolutely natural...I think. Like I said, not sure what I am." He stated, rolling onto his stomach as he broke another piece of the plant with a clawed hand before taking to the leaves there as well. Craving was /NOT/ going away! How unfair was that?

"Besides...It tastes good to me." He added with one of the brightest smiles he could possibly master.

"Uh...sure. Completely natural." He said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I'm sure it's just delicious." Roy chuckled.

"So, have you found out what animal you are yet? It has to be something adorable with ears and a twitchy tail." as soon as the words came out or Roy's mouth, he winced as he caught what he had just let slip. 'Nice one, Roy.'

Edward's eyes widened as he stared at Roy. "It's not twitchy and they're too fluffy to be considered cute. So nyeh." Ed stated, sighing contently as his tail simply moved to curl around him yet again in a relaxed fashion. Something he was getting use to. What he couldn't get was why it kept puffing up on him like that.

"Your tail _is too_ twitchy." He argued, trying not to laugh. Roy sat down on the floor by his bed, leaning his back against the cold hard wall. He quietly sighed with relief as he stared at Edwards tail, trying to come up with an idea for an animal.

"Maybe you're a chinchilla?" he asked.

"Those are grey and they don't eat bamboo. I'd say panda but they're black and white. The tails aren't like this and I wouldn't have shrunk three inches." He responded, smoothing the unwanted appendage down to no avail.

"Oh." Roy said stupidly. "I knew that."

"WHY THE HELL IS IT PUFFING UP?!?" Ed screamed, growling coldly as he viciously attacked the tail in a desperate attempt to make it lay flat...er.

Roy smirked as he held back a laugh. "If you yell at your tail, that's not going to stop it from puffing up, Edward." Roy pointed out. He leaned forward and rested his chin on his bed as he watched Edwards tail.

Edward pouted, shifting to look at Roy pathetically with a whimper. "But...I don't want it to be like that and I can't figure out why it's doing that." He said, pouting as he realized he'd lost his treat. He had been eating that to! "Roy...Have you seen that bamboo?" He asked pathetically.

Roy sighed. "I don't know about your nasty bamboo. Did you already eat it all?" He asked Edward. He glanced around the floor but didn't see it. "You just had it." he rested his chin back on the bed, staring out the window. It was almost pitch black outside. 'I don't wanna go to work tomorrow...' he complained to himself.

White ears tilted backwards slightly as he sighed, sliding off of the bed. "It's getting late...So I'll just go now so that you can sleep..." He stated, stretching suddenly with his back giving off a soft popping sound. "Night colonel." He added, calmly leaving the room in order to go and sleep on the couch.

Edward sighed, silently slipping out the front door. It was _still_ raining. But he was going to go and look for Alphonse. He wanted to see if he could find his younger brother. He wanted his sibling as well as getting his humanity fully back.

Roy rolled out of bed and walked into the living room. "Hey Edward, I forgot to ask, do you want me to-" He stopped in mid sentence, looking quickly around the room.

He rushed about, checking every room of the house. "That bastard!" he yelled. "He went off without telling me!" He flung open the front door, but the Fullmetal Alchemist was nowhere in sight. "Its not like I could follow him, anyway..." Roy sighed and layed down on the couch.

A/N Thank you so much everyone for your reviews. They mean the world to me. I'm dedicating this chapter to a friend of mine who passed away on Monday (though I just found out today) I love you Courtney and will always remember you.

Thanks again everyone,

-Kirara


	7. Chapter 7

About three in the morning a very soaked, very cold Edward quietly enter his superior's house with a small whimper. A cut was placed from the corner of his right eye straight back to his ear. Who knew that knives were that dangerous?

But on the worse side, he'd lost his chance to get Al back.

Roy stirred a bit when he heard a noise near his front door. He rolled over and opened his eyes to see a very wet Edward.

"Edward!" Roy said loudly. He had the sudden urge to slap the boy across the face for doing something so rash. "What happened? Your face... It's cut really deep."

Edward sighed, shaking his head to get the water off of him before crossing his arms while he shivered.

"I was looking for Alphonse." He said simply, a dark blush covering his face. Being pinned to a wall with a knife to your chest as the other person nibbled on your neck could do that to almost anybody. Something he couldn't stand to have happened. His struggling to get away had been the cause of the cut.

Hopefully Roy wouldn't notice the ripped section of the shirt at the bottom.

"Edward, don't lie to me. Why is your face all red? What did he do to you? I know something happened, its obvious!"

"I was looking for Alphonse and somebody from that lab practically cornered me." Ed growled, shaking his head.

"You don't get cut while just looking for someone. And look, your clothes are ripped too!" He took the blanket off of himself that he had been covered with while sleeping on the couch and walked over to Edward, draping it over his shoulders.

Edward shrugged off the blanket quickly. "He had a knife and I was stupid enough to struggle. And I don't want the blanket to get wet...My clothes should be dry by now." He explained, smiling lightly even though his own clothes had blood on them. Not like anybody could notice.

"Ok, whatever, Fullmetal. I'm glad you're safe, but I'm going to bed. Bye." without another word, Roy furiously walked out of the living room and into his own room. He opened up his window and sat sideways on the windowsill (A/N: however you spell that o.o) hugging one of his knees to his chest and letting the other dangle over the side of the window. The cold wind gently blew his hair around as he looked at the nighttime sky.

Edward simply shook his head, walking into the bathroom to check over the wound. Eyes landed on his neck where the other had been nibbling on the skin before said orbs widened. Oh hell. He did NOT do that...Yup...He did.

"THAT BASTARD LEFT A FREAKING HICKIE!!!" Edward screamed, examining the mark up close. It was definitely war now.

Roy sighed from his spot in the window. "Like I didn't hear that one, Fullmetal. You think I'm deaf or something?" He said to himself. He tilted his head sideways and looked at his open door where he could see the light of the bathroom shining through. "You bastard..." he muttered.

A cold growl left Ed's throat as he sat on the counter while pulling out a sewing needle with a loose thread from his shirt. Biting down into his lip, the chimera slowly and gently began to sew up the gash. It was painful but he needed it done and couldn't really go to the hospital.

After finishing the stitches and cleaning up his mess, Edward calmly made his way to Roy's room with a few much needed cleaning supplies. Might as well get the rest of the house done then. That meant his superior's room. Hopefully he didn't get into trouble for it though.

In Roy's room, he grabbed his jacket and then jumped with ease out of his window and lay out in the grass. It was much nicer, much cooler outside. He loved this kind of weather. He shivered a bit, then draped his jacket over his upper body

After a minute, Roy sighed and sat up. He couldn't sleep. On nights when he couldn't sleep, he usually came and sat outside for a while in his yard, sometimes even falling asleep outside for the night, but tonight he had too much on his mind.

Edward softly hummed a strange, almost haunting tune as he cleaned. He'd made the bed and took to sorting clean and dirty clothes from each other. It wasn't difficult with his sensitive nose, But it wasn't exactly pleasant either.

Roy hopped up and grabbed his jacket, walking toward the window to go back inside. He saw Edward in there, trying to clean up his room.

"Um...Ed? Why are you cleaning my room...?" He asked, looking at the teen strangely. "It's an organized mess. You don't have to clean it."

"Because it's a mess, I'm an unnatural neat freak, and I want to do something nice for you. Besides, the couch is colder than your bedroom floor is." Edward explained with a small, curt nod as he smiled. He was happy with the idea of simply sleeping on the others floor if it meant warmth and company.

"O-ok...so you're going to sleep on the floor tonight?" he asked. "You _can_ have the bed if you want it, you know." Roy said, sitting down on the partially cleared floor. "I don't really care where I sleep."

"But I do. I don't want to kick you off of your own bed and I'm use to having to sleep in awkward places. Trust me! I was in a cage for almost two weeks!" He stated in an actual cheerful tone, not realizing that he'd told the other that.

"...You we're in a cage?" he asked slowly. "Edward, what did they do to you? You came in at 3 AM, soaked to the bone, with a huge gash on your face that you apparently had to stitch up, and your clothes torn, with a freaking HICKEY on your neck." he paused. "That insane bastard that did this to you needs to be caught."

"Easy. They drugged me up and had a different person taking are of me every night. When the leader of their _group_ came by, he was overly quiet and kept the lights off. I was in a cage and I wore a collar. I can't remember what they did to me, but I do know that I'm missing a few clothes. You figure it out." He said coolly, not bothering to look up from what he was doing.

Roy bit his lip. "It's really my fault all that happened to you.

I shouldn't have sent you on that stupid mission." he told Edward. 'If anything happened to Alphonse, I don't think I could ever forgive myself...' Roy thought to himself while staring blankly at the floor. "If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it..."

Edward gave Roy a teary eyed look, having gain another unpleasant memory while he'd been out. He remembered seeing Al's face one time when he'd been pulled against the bars of his cage.

"Edward..." Roy said quietly, looking at the tears that threatened to spill out of Edward's eyes. This was starting to scare him. He didn't think he had actually ever seen Edward cry. "You know you can cry if you want, there's no shame in it."

I can't cry...It's a weakness that I can't afford to have. I'm not a child anymore. I gave up the rights to cry like one when I joined the

military." He muttered under his breath, rapidly swiping at his eyes to dry them, not caring if he rubbed the skin raw.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

A/N Thanks everyone like always for your nice reviews. Maybe after this chapter, I'll have hit 50 reviews? –pleading eyes-

-Kirara


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Oh my gosh, thank you sooo much everyone. I passed 50 reviews! my dream came true! Thanks to all my faithful reviewers! i love you guys!

Roy reached over and grabbed Edwards hands, pulling them down from his face. "But you _were_ crying, Ed." He said softly. "It's ok to. You may act like an adult (at times) but you aren't yet. Its ok to not be strong sometimes."

Edward sighed, shaking his head again in a distant fashion. "I _have_ to be strong, for Alphonse if anything. And I don't have rights to a childhood or anything that comes along with it..." he muttered, a soft sigh escaping from his lips before he grudgingly returned to his cleaning.

Roy sighed. Edward was just so stubborn. He didn't realize that crying could make you feel better sometimes. When you haven't cried for a while, though, it's probably easy to forget that. Roy got up and sat on his bed. "You don't have to clean the whole floor. You can just clear a spot to sleep on."

"Uh...I've been trying to. But then that spot isn't comfortable enough so I move." He explained, motioning to the randomly cleared areas littering the floor.

Edward had gotten so used to freezing on the couch that he wasn't used to being uncomfortable and warm. Sad. Just sad.

Roy nodded. "I guess its better to sleep in here because it gets really cold in the rest of the house at night. Do you want a blanket or something for tonight, or something to sleep on?" He asked. "The floor can't be that comfortable."

Edward smiled brightly, shaking his head slowly. "I won't sleep for more than a couple hours anyway. The nightmares will simply return and force me awake once more." He explained, curling up into a tight ball and shutting his black rimmed eyes.

Roy stared at Edward for a moment, then simply said "I'm sorry." He rolled over and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost instantly despite all the things running through his mind.

(_Edwards dream)_

_Darkness. Why was the room always so dark? Footsteps echoed off of the walls as dazed, golden eyes seemingly stared off into space. Where was he again? Some...Small town. Right. Small town...Pain... _

_The blonde looked up drowsily, tilting his head to the left in a confused manner. _

_"See? You're perfectly fine." The brunette practically purred, ironically enough. Seeing Edward was currently crossed with a miniature cheetah. He was utterly and truly pathetic. _

_"But before we try and cross you with something else...Let's have a little fun. After all, I've never had a play toy made up of so many different things before." The alchemist said, green eyes flashing maliciously as he pulled out a leather whip. _

_Edward woke up with a startled yelping sound, sitting up with his knees pulled to his chest while he whimpered quietly. Golden eyes started to water as the teen refused to let the unwanted tears fall. Why did it have to happen to him. Pain shot through Edward back and chest suddenly as he pulled his shirt off quickly, examining the now open and freely bleeding welts/gashes decorating his pale skin._

Roy's eyes shot open when he heard Edward's yelp. He looked down on the floor to see Edward with his shirt off and open wounds over his body. Roy leaped out of his bed and onto the ground, kneeling by Edward. "What happened?" Roy asked, sounding alarmed.

Large, fearful eyes glanced up at Roy as Edward stifled another whimper before taking a deep breath to calm him slightly. "They re-opened..." He muttered in a pained voice.

Roy stared at the open wounds for a brief second, and then came back to his senses. He gently picked up the blond and struggled to stand up. He walked the short distance to his bed and softly set Edward down on it. "I'll go get some bandages. Stay there. Don't move."

Edward sighed, forcing himself not to lay down and get blood on the others bedding. That'd be rude...Right? For some reason, Ed seemed to think that the newfound manners might have possibly come from the canary. But you could never truly tell.

Roy peeked back in before continuing down the hall to make sure he was laying down. He sighed with frustration. Of _course_ he wasn't. Roy pulled off his shirt over his head and layed it on the bed where Edward was. "Now, lay down." Roy ordered sternly. "That's an order." He said before leaving the room in search of bandages or anything that would help Edward.

Edward sighed in agitation, laying down gingerly with a cringe. Hurt back plus pressure was bad. Very, very bad. But he didn't have a choice apparently. Rolling onto his side, the chimera waited patiently. He did appreciate the colonel's concern, but he didn't want the other to do anything that would take up his time, Such as when he was meant to sleep.

Roy entered the bathroom and gazed around, looking for anything that would help Edward. He opened up a cupboard and scanned the shelves with his eyes. He noticed a several rolls of bandages, picked them up, and walked back into his bedroom. His eyes flashed with anger, thinking of the people that had hurt him as he walked over to Edward with the bandages. "Can you sit up?"

Edward sighed, eye twitching slightly. "You mean...I layed down and now I have to sit back up yet again?!?" He snapped, pushing himself up with a whimper before collapsing back down. His wrists hurt and so did the rest of him. But he couldn't really fix it himself either. "Know what? Just leave me to die..." He grumbled under his breath.

"Don't _ever_ say that again." Roy snapped, replying quickly. "You know very well that I wont leave you to die." He felt strange saying this. "If you don't sit up, how else am I going to bandage you?" He asked. "I know it hurts, but those wounds need to be treated. Would you rather go to a hospital? I'm sure you'd have tons of fun there."

Another pained whimper escaped from his throat as he forced himself up, body threatening to fall over again as he gave Roy a pained look. It hurt to move. "I think I need to have my automail checked out soon..." He said quietly. Winry was going to kill him. Slowly and painfully.

Thanks again for all the reviews, everyone!

-Kirara


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Oooh, fluff chapter :D

Thank you everyone for all the nice reviews!

Roy started wrapping a bandage around Edward's middle, trying to cover the wounds on his chest and back.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you by doing this." He told the younger alchemist. "Do you want to call Winry and ask her to come down here? You can't be seen in public and you're definitely in no condition to travel..."

Edward winced before slowly nodding in agreement. "She's going to kill me, but that'd be very much appreciated. I do need her to come down and see me."

"Alright, I'll call her tomorrow." Roy assured him, ripping the end of the bandages and gently tucking in the end so it would stay on tight."

I think the floor is what caused my wounds to re-open so I'm most likely moving back to the couch..." He said quietly.

"Hell no, you are not sleeping on the couch. I'm sleeping on the floor and you're on the bed. That's an order, and I don't want you arguing about it. Are the bandages hurting you too much?" Roy asked, picking up his shirt that was laying on the bed behind Edward and throwing it on the floor. He walked over to his closet and got out a new shirt which he quickly slipped over his head.

Edward raised an eyebrow slowly. "It's fine. Don't worry about it..."

He said, slipping off of the bed stubbornly and curling up under it. Sadly that seemed to be the cleanest section of the entire bedroom. "You can have the bed..." He said simply, refusing the order. All right, so that could get him into trouble but he wasn't about to make the colonel sleep on the floor instead of his bed.

"Edward." He said quietly. "Get your ass back on that bed. You are _not_ going to sleep on the floor. Just get in the damn bed so we can both go to sleep!" Roy yelled, temper flaring. How could he even think of sleeping on the floor in his condition? "You are sleeping on the bed, and since you said that you didn't like sleeping somewhere alone, I'm going to sleep on the floor right here. End of story."

I absolutely refuse to let you sleep on the god damned floor, Mustang!" Ed snapped back, eyes flashing dangerously as he crawled back out. "So get your ass back on the bed yourself!" He added, his own temper flaring dangerously. Why couldn't Roy understand that no meant no?

"No." Roy said simply, laying down on the floor. "Fine, sleep where you want but _I'm_ staying right here. I refuse to take the bed when you need it more than me." To prove his point, Roy rolled on his back and closed his eyes.

Edward frowned, chewing his lip lightly before sighing and shaking his head slowly. He'd regret this later. "Why can't we just share the bed then? It's large enough for us both..." He pointed out, crawling from his hiding spot.

Roy lazily opened one eye from his spot on the floor. "If that's what it takes to get you into the bed, then fine. He got up and laid back down on his side of the bed, facing the window. Oh God, he was probably going to regret this. But if this was what it took...

A soft sigh escaped from Edward's lips as he shut his eyes lightly. He had a small tendency to move towards the closest source of heat in his sleep. This time it just so happened his closest heat source was in fact his superior officer, which meant there was a ninety-five percent chance that in his sleep, the chimera would start to cuddle.

Hopefully though, on Ed's part, he would be in the five percent chance of staying still in his sleep. As a small, barely noticeable shiver ran down his spine, Edward /knew/ that it would be an interesting morning to wake up to before he fell asleep.

Roy fell asleep almost instantly, tired from his past nights of incomplete sleep. As the heater cut off in the room, Roy subconsciously began to inch nearer to the center of the bed, seeking warmth. He scooted over until he was back to back with the adorable chimera in his bed.

Edward woke up the next morning, feeling extremely warm and comfortable A soft sigh escaped from his lips as he cracked his eyes open, only to see that his 'pillow' was actually the colonel's chest. Blushing lightly, the chimera moved to leave, only to realize that Roy had his arm around Edward's waist.

Well...Damn. This was an awkward way to wake up. Laying on your superior officer's chest...

Roy shifted a bit, noticing that his warmth was moving away. He snuggled closer, pulling Edward neared to him. His eyes opened a bit, looking straight into Edward's eyes. "Ah..!" He exclaimed slowly. All of a sudden, Roy jumped up quickly, letting go of Edward and sitting up in his bed.

"...S-sorry about that, Fullmetal."

Ed shook his head, still blushing lightly, as his eyes looked anywhere but at Roy.

"No. It was my own fault really. I can guarantee that I was the one to move towards you first. I tend to move closer to people or things that'll keep me warm while sleeping. A bad habit really..." He explained, shaking his head.

"I'll go make you something to eat so that you can get to work on time." The chimera added, motioning to the clock as he got up shakily.

"Yeah...' Roy said, chuckling uneasily and also averting Edward's eyes. "I sometimes do that too..." Roy glanced over at the clock and groaned. "I don't think I'm going to work today..." he told Edward. "Um... I'll help you make breakfast."

Riza was definitely going to kill him for skipping work so much. But it wasn't like he could leave Edward there by himself. What if he ran off again?

Edward smiled and shook his head. "Call Riza, tell her you're sick. I'll go get your breakfast done." He stated, leaving to do so. He felt like making French toast...And he felt like fruit for himself.

No. It was bad enough that he'd eaten all the leaves off of Roy's bamboo plant, he didn't need to go around making things worse by eating the colonel's actual food. That would be a bad idea.

Roy whimpered a bit when he heard Riza's name aloud. As much as he didn't want to, he knew he had to call her. He dialed her number and the phone rang a few times before a woman's voice came over the phone.

"Hey Hawkeye, it's me. I'm not going to be at work again today, all right? Bye then." He hung up before she could protest. Roy walked into the kitchen and looked over Edward's shoulder. "Need help?" he asked.

Edward sighed, shaking his head slowly. "Nah. I think I have this thing pretty much taken care of." He said calmly, smiling in a bright fashion as he started to actually cook the food now joyfully. He rather enjoyed cooking for people.

A/N Reviews make a happy author! (hint hint)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been writing a bunch of song fics xD I'm so excited. Maybe I'll hit 100 reviews with this newest chapter? –puppy eyes-

"You better be cooking for yourself, too..." Roy told him slowly. "I don't want to have to start force feeding you." '_Actually',_ he thought after a moment, 't_hat might be pretty funny_.'

Edward sighed and simply shook his head as he flipped the food. "I'm not hungry at the moment, so I'm not going to eat." He explained calmly. He knew it was a lie, but the other couldn't really prove it...Could he?

"So, uh…" Roy said, trying to start a conversation, "should one of us call Winry soon?"

The chimera winced, whimpering at the mention of his childhood friend. "Uh...Could you call her for me?" He asked slowly, tilting his head to the right slightly.

"Uh... I'm not sure she'd appreciate me calling her, but I will.." He said hesitantly. "And you ARE going to eat. Your appetite is not a secret from anyone, Edward. If you're not eating, then I'm not either." Roy said stubbornly and walked off to call Winry, hoping that had convinced Edward to eat, even a little.

Edward grumbled, putting Roy's food on a plate and finding an apple. He stuck said apple into his mouth as he moved to turn off the stove and clean the pan he'd dirtied. A loud yelp escaped from his throat, muffled by the apple, as Edward dropped the pan to the floor from accidentally hitting his hand against the hot metal. The chimera looked at his reddened hand with a small whimper, holding the limb close to his chest protectively.

Roy walked into his bedroom with a sigh. He picked up his phone and rummaged around his desk for a minute.

"I know I must have her number in here somewhere.." He found the paper and dialed the number. A girls voice answered the phone.

"Hello, Rockbell Automail."

"Hello...Is this Winry? This is Colonel Mustang.."

"Oh!" Winry said with a hint of surprise in her voice. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"Well, actually, yes. You see Edwards automail broke again, so..."

She sighed loudly. "So he asked you to get me to come and fix it for him?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Ok..." She said. "Where is he?"

Roy gave her directions to his house from central and they hung up. Roy walked back into the kitchen to find Edward.

"Hey," Roy said, "I called your little girlfriend and she said she'd try to catch the train and be here tomorrow afternoon.

Edward looked up, biting his apple harshly as he nodded and slowly picked up the pan with his automail and placing it in the pan. He turned on the water, shoving his burnt hand under it with a muffled sigh. Well...He wasn't sure how to take care of them, so he simply turned the water to lukewarm instead of hot or cold.

Then again, he had never been burned before. The teen winced, just now noticing the small whitish blisters here and there.

Roy noticed Edward's burnt hand as he shoved it under the water. He sighed loudly. "Now what happened?" He said teasingly. He walked over to a cabinet and grabbed a bowl. Roy filled it with water, gently pushing Edwards hand away for a second, then filled the bucket with ice.

"Here, maybe this will help." Roy said, grabbing Edward's hand and softly laying it in the cold water. "Don't burn yourself again by cooking for me," Roy told him.

Ed removed the apple and shook his head as he relaxed his hand calmly.

"I didn't burn it cooking for you though. I burned it by cleaning the mess that I made after cooking for you." He pointed out, taking an actual bite of the fruit before swallowing and giving the other a small smile.

"So its still my fault?" Roy pointed out.

"So...Think you could help me figure out what I might possibly be then?" Edward asked in a rather hesitant fashion, trying to change the subject.

"Animal...animal..." Roy muttered, thinking of possibilities. Roy pulled Edwards hand out of the water, examined it for a second, and then gently replaced it in the cool water. "What animal...Wait, is a shrimp considered an animal?" Roy asked innocently, chuckling a bit.

Edward's eye twitched as he subtly kicked the other in the shin. "How about NOT making things worse by picking on me about my HEIGHT since it's not my fault I SHRUNK three FUCKING INCHES!" He 'suggested', eyes flashing. Three inches off his height, three years off his life. How lovely. That of course was estimated. Bu with so many drugs and rash beatings, it had to have taken some time off, too.

Roy winced a bit, rubbing his hurt shin. "Okay, get it. I'll stop." Roy said, trying not to laugh. 'Three inches?' he though after. 'Haha poor Edward.'

Roy took Edwards hand out of the icy water and looked at it yet again. "Your hand should be fine. Do you want me to wrap it or something?"

Edward raised an eyebrow slowly, still munching on his apple as if nothing had happened as he gently pulled his hand back.

"Are you supposed to wrap it if it blisters?" He asked simply, tiling his head to the side ever so slightly. He _really_ didn't know how to treat burns. He never got one before except when he was younger and his father was busy. Because of the curiosity, Ed had stuck his hand into the lit fireplace. When his mother got home, she'd had a fit about responsibility around two small kids such as Edward and Alphonse were at the time.

"Uh...Yeah, you are supposed to wrap it, and seeing that it will probably blister, we should wrap it." Roy told Edward. "Or maybe we should wait to see if it actually does blister." He paused. "I'm glad you're eating something now," Roy said, smiling

"It tastes good right now. Now...Maybe we should wrap it up." He said calmly, showing the white spots that were slowly turning into small blisters. And they hurt like hell!!

He _really_ hated burns. Especially right now. "I mean...I think that this would be a good idea..." He added with a small frown appearing on his marked face.

"Right," Roy agreed, leaving in search of bandages. He returned a minute later with them and walked up to Edward. "Uh... That looks pretty painful, Fullmetal. Are you sure you're ok?" Roy asked as he got to work gently wrapping Edward's hand.

Edward slowly blinked his eyes in an owlish fashion. "Yah...I'm fine. At least I think I am. My hand is kind of numb feeling right now after the whole ice bath thing..." He stated meekly, watching the wall rather intently as he finished off his fruit. Well, that definitely helped with the blonde's appetite. But he was still hungry.

"Of course it's numb, it was ice water!" Roy shook his head. "That was kind of the whole point. Now, what are we going to do all day today?" Roy asked.

He hated being bored; just the thought of being bored bugged him. Maybe it was all of the excitement in his life that caused this. "We have to wait a whole day for Winry, so..."

Edward gave a thoughtful look, usually busying himself with other things such as reading. The teen opened his mouth to speak, shutting it quickly when he heard a quick knocking sound on the door. Well. He was definitely not expecting that.

"Uh...Should I hide or something?" Edward asked cautiously, not wanting to tempt his fate right now and possibly get caught. That would simply suck. Big time.

Roy gulped. He had a strange feeling that he knew who was going to be there when he opened the door.

"Go hide in my room," he told Edward quietly, as he walked over quickly to answer the door. He opened it and looked outside.

Edward frowned before sighing, taking off into the others room.

Seriously...He needed to get the rest of the place clean. It wasn't like he could really do anything else and this was most likely the worst room...It /was/ the worst room by a long shot actually. Now that was a tad pathetic. Can't even clean up after yourself.

Brown eyes stared coolly as the blonde woman gave a small salute to her superior officer.

"Colonel...Just wanted to check up on you. I mean, you didn't seem sick. And if you aren't really sick...Well then..." Riza trailed off, calmly taking out her trusted companion (Gun. ALWAYS with the guns...) and pointing it at Roy's head. "So...How are you this fine morning?"

"Um, uh..." Roy stuttered, staring fearfully at the gun. He coughed weakly and rubbed his eyes. "I'm..." he coughed again, "A little bit better..." he looked behind him, making sure that Edward had gotten out of sight. "Wh-why are you here, Hawkeye...?" Roy asked hesitantly. "I-I really am sick!" he protested pathetically. "Honestly!


	11. Chapter 11

"Wh-why are you here, Hawkeye...?" Roy asked hesitantly. "I-I really am sick!" he protested. "Honestly!"

"In that case colonel, please move aside. In order for you to get better quicker, I've been elected to help you out with our unfortunate illness. I hope this won't be any problem for you since I'd hate to assume you've been lying." She stated, replacing the gun in its holster and simply slipping past Roy with a small smile. It was no secret that she had... feelings for the man. If anything, she made it obvious most of the time.

"Ah! W-wait!" Roy cried desperately. He had to keep Edward unseen. "You don't want to go in there! It's um...messy! Really messy!" Roy explained.

'Shit, if she sees Edward, what will happen? Please, Hawkeye, don't flip out and shoot him without thinking..' He darted inside and blocked her view of the hallway leading to his room.

"I'll be right back!" Roy said quickly, walking quickly into his room. "Edward, it's just Hawkeye at the door. She insisted on coming inside, so you can either show and explain yourself to her or hide."

Riza slowly raised an eyebrow. Oh yes. He was _so_ sick...Practically on his death bed. And neon blue pigs just flew overhead. She sighed, pulling out her gun and following the colonel. Well...He claimed to be sick and he'd definitely be in the hospital for something once she was through with him. Edward frowned before nodding his head.

"Right...Can't be seen. Too dangerous for her if one of those freaks find out she's seen me. They might kill her." He stated, slipping under the bed right before Riza appeared, placing her gun to the back of Roy's head. "A real mess and you sure do seem to be moving quick enough to be considered well..." She pointed out calmly.

Roy attempted his little pathetic cough once more. "Um... well, I _am_ feeling just a little bit better," he told her. Roy had to get her out of his room before she caught sight of Edward. The last thing Roy wanted was for Edward to be taken again and have God knows what done to him by that psychopath who locked him in a cage. Roy's attention snapped back to Riza. "

C-come on!" Roy told her, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of his room. It's a mess in here, let's go somewhere else."

Riza pulled her arm away, taking hold of the colonel's instead. "How about work then? I was smart enough to leave the car running. Not to mention you have a spare uniform at the office so that won't be a problem. There's a lot of paperwork to be done so lets get going." She said coolly, her clipped tone showing no chance to disagree as she led the colonel to the door.

He was just fine, which meant that Roy was most definitely going back to work now.

"Wait!" Roy cried as he was unwillingly dragged away by his lieutenant. He couldn't leave Edward alone, in case they tried to capture him again. This time he might not come back. "Wait!" He yelled again in desperation. "I'll go to work tomorrow! Please let me stay home today!"

If he stayed home today, then he and Edward might be able to come up with something to keep him safe. Not that Edward would agree, though.

"NO. I've only come to get you mainly because the Bradley is doing an inspection today and has been looking for a new general and it _could_ be _you_ if you'd just show up!" She snapped, eyes flashing dangerously.

The colonel would /never/ turn this opportunity down...Would he? No he wouldn't! It was too important for the other to succeed in climbing to the top!

"But-I-" Roy sighed in defeat. He glanced at Riza for a second, then turned in the direction of the house and yelled "I'm sorry!" He hoped Edward had heard him. He looked back a Riza, hoping she would ignore his yelling as just him being an idiot. "Alright." he sighed again. 'I'm sorry, Edward...' he though, glancing back at his house. 'Please don't do anything stupid..'

Riza's eye twitched as she muttered something about poor girls and hookers. Shaking her blonde head, she released the colonel to get into the car. They'd be home by six 'o'clock so it wasn't really that much of a problem. At least, it shouldn't be.

Roy climbed unwillingly into the car and shut the door. 'Please don't leave again,' he thought to himself. 'Edward, don't do anything stupid.' After this thought, he realized how stupid he was being. Edward wasn't a child and he could take care of himself. Roy sighed and looked out the window of the car.

((Lets give a bit of a time skip, shall we?))

Edward Elric was indeed a magnet for nothing but trouble. The ransacked house screamed out that fact. So did the person he'd had to kill in a method of self defense. There'd been no other choice though! He was going to be taken back to that place...To that man...

The chimera quickly shook his head, silently hoping beyond reason the colonel would hurry up and return home. Clawed hands grasped at the overly tight collar on his neck in an attempt to rip it away, the array refusing to let the object budge.

Roy felt a bit of panicky fear as he and Riza rode

in the car on the way home from work. Edward had a habit of finding trouble, no matter where he was. Roy had known that he would be impatiently watching the clock the whole day and wouldn't be able to concentrate.

Riza sighed as she calmly shook her head at the other. "Colonel...Why were you pretending to be sick? I mean...Not even you would sink that low to get out of work! You know...You _can_ trust me with anything right? I wouldn't abuse your trust that you have in me." She pointed out, hoping to get some much needed answers. She could tell that something was up. His house had been actually clean for once.

Roy averted Riza's eyes as he watched the passing scene through the window. "I wasn't faking!" he retorted lamely. "I just...was feeling better today!" Roy really did feel bad about lying to Riza, after she had said that he could trust her. He _did_ trust her, but he just couldn't tell her. Not without Edward's permission.


End file.
